Washington General
by luberly
Summary: This is the 4th story in the RangeWoman series. It follows on immediately after 'When You Say No' and continues with the multi-POV story style. What happens when Ranger confronts the General who was responsible for kidnapping Lester? JE Owns the characters, I'm just repositioning them.
1. Chapter 1

This story follows immediately after 'When You Say No' and uses the same multi-POV concept. Enjoy.

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_Ranger's POV_

I dragged myself out of my seat and waved at the guys who were lucky enough to be heading back to Trenton. I nodded to Tank and told him I'd be in touch. Tank knew the ropes and he was perfectly capable of running RangeMan in my absence. I just hope I am not gone too long or my Babe might have second thoughts about letting me into her life as more than just a friend. It would also give Morelli time to weasel his way back in.

Perhaps I should call Tank and ask him to keep an eye on Morelli. If he goes near Steph, I should probably have Tank pay him a visit to discourage his interaction with my Babe. I trusted my Babe, but I definitely did not trust Morelli. Then again, he never trusted me around Stephanie, so fair is fair I suppose. I ran my hands through my hair and patted my pockets to make sure that everything was still there.

I even patted my back pockets, knowing that I hadn't actually put anything there, but it was sort of a habit of mine. Despite my habit, I was surprised to find that there was something in the back pocket of my cargoes. I had only worn there for a short time on the trip down here a few days ago, so whatever it was it must have been put there or left there from Trenton.

I looked around at the other four people climbing off the plane and reached into my back pocket. The paper in my pocket was a folded sheet of yellow legal pad paper, and my breath caught in my throat when I unfolded and smoothed out the paper.

"Wow Boss, that's a great drawing of Steph. Where did it come from?"

I looked up at Leister and growled. The smile disappeared from Leister's face and he continued walking to the waiting cars. I looked down at the piece of paper and thought back to my departure. Babe patted me on the ass and I shrugged it off at the time. Now I was sure that was when this paper made its way into my pocket.

There were two cars waiting for us at the airport. I would travel with the two agents and Leister would travel with Fiona. This worked for me because I hadn't really had much of a chance to talk to the guys back at the office in Atlanta. I wanted to get more information from them about General Matthew's mental deterioration.

Once inside the car, I pulled out the drawing and looked at it again. This time, I noticed that Babe had added to the words below the drawing. Under my scrawl saying that I wished the baby in the picture was mine, Babe added, 'Wishes can come true."

I smiled at the possibility of having a baby with my Babe. I always pushed those ideas the furthest part of my mind, but lately I wasn't having that much success in suppressing them. I carefully folded the drawing and replaced it in my pocket, making a mental note to talk to Babe about it later.

I turned in my seat and looked at the two men in the back seat. They were both sitting there, looking a little apprehensive. I smiled at them and said, "There is no reason to be nervous gentlemen. I am not planning on doing anything to you or Miss LeBlanc. In fact, I'm hoping that the three of you can help me get rid of the General. He is clearly no longer fit for duty and he needs to retire."

I saw Agent Polanski pale at this statement, so I figured I should clarify. "I don't plan on retiring him permanently. I'm not going to kill him. If something had happened to Leister, I might have considered it, but it is clear that the man is not all there, so there's little point punishing him. He needs help and the rest of his staff and operators need a new leader. I plan to make that happen as quickly as possible so I can get home and get on with my life."

Agent Polanski looked over at Agent Williams and nodded. He then took a deep breath and said, "We shouldn't have gone along with this last mission. We knew there was something wrong, but we were too afraid that the General would fire us. All three of us, Agent LeBlanc included have wanted to get out for a while. Maybe this is our chance. It's just too bad that the General won't be able to give us any recommendations. Going from Black Ops to any other government agency of police force requires a letter from your commander. That won't be possible for us."

I thought for a moment and said, "Would either of you be interested in working for RangeMan? I have a few friends in the FBI who would consider 6 months at RangeMan as a good starter. I could also explain the whole General situation."

Williams looked at me and said, "No offence Manoso, but your firm doesn't exactly have the best reputation for working inside the confines of the law. Why would the FBI consider working for you helpful?"

"Working for RangeMan is about following orders, no questions asked. It's a lot like being in the military. We also have a very strict training regimen. All our staff must pass a set of tests that are much harder than those required for the FBI. They know in advance that RangeMan staff would pass all their field tests at Quantico with little difficulty. Besides, I'm fully aware of the legality of some of the missions I went on for the general. They were all a little grey. I've worked many cases with the FBI in recent years and we have a lot of respect for each other. My good word will go a long way."

This time, Polanski asked, "Where would we have to be stationed? Which RangeMan office? I know you have several."

I nodded and said, "Ideally, you should be stationed at the head office because that's where I am, but if there are personal circumstances that make that difficult, we can discuss one of my other offices located in Boston, Atlanta or Miami. I don't need an answer today. You can even try your luck out in the real world. You might find you have no problems."

Williams nodded and thanked me for my offer. He said he'd think about it and Polanski nodded his agreement.

When we pulled into the front of the hotel I said, "Gentlemen, we'll be staying at a hotel tonight. I know you probably have your own places locally, but we need to keep our presence in D.C. unknown for as long as possible.

"I'm expecting to get my ultimatum from General Matthews any time now, and once I know he's back, we can come out into the open. We'll all stay at the same hotel and I would appreciate it if you stayed there. RangeMan will pick up the tab for any room service, so make yourselves at home.

"We'll meet at 0900 to make a plan for tomorrow. I'll talk to Leister Santos and Miss LeBlanc as soon as they get to the hotel."

Both men nodded and climbed out of the car and collected their bags from the back. They went into the lobby to wait for the rest of us. Leister and Fiona's car pulled up behind us and I walked over to relay the same message.

About 10 minutes later, I threw my bag onto the 2nd double bed in my hotel room. I looked at my watch and it said that it was just after midnight. I worried for a moment about waking my Babe if I called her, but figured she'd rather hear from me now than in the morning.

"Ranger?"

"Yeah Babe, it's me. Sorry to wake you so late."

"S'ok Ranger. I was hoping you'd call when you landed."

"Babe, I found the drawing you put in my pocket this evening. I read what you wrote on the bottom. Did you mean it?"

"Unhmmm, yeah, but I didn't mean tomorrow or anything."

I laughed and said, "Maybe we should get a bit of practise in before we commit to anything this life altering."

I heard my Babe sigh and say, "Yeah, practise. Lots and lot of practise."

"Does this mean the whole three date rule is no longer needed Babe?"

I heard a ruffle noise and then Babe said, "I think it's necessary now more than ever Ranger. We actually need to make sure that we really are on the same page."

"You're right Babe. Why don't you go back to sleep. Tomorrow is your official first day at RangeMan. I'm sure you'll have a full schedule so I don't want you to be too tired."

"Good point Ranger. Will you call me tomorrow?"

"You can count on it Babe."

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Well, that's how this one starts. More to come soon.

L.


	2. Chapter 2

These characters belong to JE.

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_Fiona's POV_

Even though my part in this mission wasn't particularly taxing, I didn't get a lot of rest. As a result, as soon as I was free to sleep, I took every opportunity. I slept in the car to the airport, I slept on the plane and I even slept in the car to the hotel.

Each time I slept, I felt Lester's eyes on me. Normally, if a man started at me the way Lester has been doing over the past couple of days, I'd have given him a shiner or at least a testicular readjustment. But Lester was different. I knew about his playboy status, but I just couldn't see it in the way he interacted with me and the guys. Maybe he just needed the right environment for that side of him to come out.

When we stopped at the hotel, Ranger came over and explained that I should stay in the hotel and that we'd meet again in the morning. He also took me aside and made a really generous offer for a job at RangeMan if I wasn't able to get into another agency after the fiasco with the General. I thanked Ranger and thought about my options for a while.

I started working for the General after my first tour in the Army was over. I had been deployed in Afghanistan for 2 years and when I returned, I was pretty well known in the army circles because I was female and I was a pretty good sniper. On one outing, I managed to take out three Taliban fighters who had ambushed my team. Three were injured and one was killed.

I climbed on top of an old building and managed to pick off three of the bad guys, saving the rest of my team as a result. I was awarded the Silver Star and then approached by General Matthews. I was told that he led Black Ops using military resources and personnel and he used only the best of the best.

I had heard about Captain Manoso and several of his employees, but I never had the chance to work with them on a mission. I had a chance once, but backed out of the mission because my father had a heart attack. He ended up surviving, but I never regretted missing that mission because several of the men sent out didn't return. On that particular mission, only Captain Manoso and one other man survived, and by the sounds of it, they were just shit lucky.

I was standing in the lobby of a pretty nice hotel, waiting for a key to my room when Lester walked over to me. He looked at me for a minute and then said, "Is everything OK? You looked like your mind was far away for a while there."

I smiled at Lester. He was actually a really sweet guy, despite his reputation. "I'm fine Lester. I was just remembering how I got into the in the first place."

"Yeah, I'm surprised you haven' come across Ranger before."

"I was assigned a mission with Ranger about a year ago, but my father had a heart attack and I didn't go. It turns out that my father's near death experience probably saved my life."

Lester thought for a moment and said, "Was that the mission that Ranger and Tank escaped only because their truck broke down and missed the ambush?"

I nodded and Lester smiled. My god, he has a nice smile. I just stood there staring at him, which in turn made him smile wider.

Ranger walked up to us and patted Lester on the shoulder, handing him a key card in a pouch. He handed me one as well and then bid us good night. Lester looked at his watch and said, "Would you like a quick night cap before heading to bed?"

I thought for a moment. I really would like to see Lester in a more relaxed environment and to see his playboy come out, but I was tired. Sleeping in a moving vehicle of any kind isn't very restful. "How about a rain check? I'm really exhausted. I'd probably fall asleep on you and that would be no fun. You'd leave me at the table to sleep while you found your next target."

Lester's face fell for a moment, but only for a fraction of a second. He then smiled wider and said, "I'm sure Fiery Fiona would outshine any other woman in a bar tonight. You'd easily be able to hold my attention, even if you did fall asleep. I will take that rain check and you'll have a wonderful time."

I felt a little guilty at my jibe about suggesting that he would ditch me and look for another woman the first chance he got, but he did have a reputation. I didn't want to actually fall for the guy and then just be another notch on his headboard.

I looked down at my key card and saw that my room was on the 12th floor. Lester was also looking at his card and I noticed that we were in adjacent rooms. Great, that's all I need, handsome, sexy and willing man in the room right next to mine. I decided to pretend that it wasn't a big deal and headed to the elevators.

I wasn't sure if Lester saw my room number, so maybe if I got off on a different floor than him, he might leave things alone for tonight. I walked into the car and pressed the button for the 13th floor. Lester got in and pressed the button for the 12th floor and then turned and smiled at me.

"Are you afraid I'm going to knock on your door in the middle of the night Fiery Fiona?"

"Would you stop calling me that?" I snapped.

"Um, sure Fiona, I'm sorry, it's a habit of mine. I tend to give women nicknames based on their personalities."

"Is that so you don't have to remember their actual names?"

"In some cases, that's exactly why. In others, it's because I like to show affection by giving them a name that nobody else uses."

"Well, if you want to give me a nickname, you shouldn't include a person's name. I hate my name. I preferred to be known by my surname in the army and that is what my colleagues and the General continue to call me."

"Fair enough, but I can come up with something better than LeBlanc. How about White Fire? Or Firefly?"

I was saved from answering when the elevator dinged and the doors opened on the 12th floor. We both exited and walked to our rooms. I smiled at Lester and said, "I think you should keep working on it. Neither of those suggestions is very endearing. Good night Lester."

Lester smiled and said, "I'll find something. Good night LeBlanc."

I unlocked my door and walked into my room. I wanted to do nothing more than collapse on my bed and sleep for the next 12 hours, but I needed to be up and meet with the guys in just under 8 hours. I hurriedly got ready for bed, set my alarm and then crawled under the covers. My last thought before I fell asleep was that Lester was probably doing the exact same thing just a few feet away.

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More to come tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

Enjoy...

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_Steph's POV_

After they found Lester safe and sound, I was too wired to fall asleep straight away. Lula and I decided to go to Pino's for a late night snack and ended up staying until around 11. I had only been in bed for about 30 minutes when Ranger called. He sounded well and we had a short conversation.

Now, with my alarm going off at 5:30 in the morning, I was wishing I skipped the whole Pino's experience, no matter how much fun we had. I turned off my alarm and slowly sat up. I had 30 minutes to make it down to the gym, so I rolled over and stumbled out into the kitchen to make coffee.

It turned out that Lula beat me to it. There was already a pot freshly made and Lula was already dressed in her gym clothes and ready to go. She took one look at me and said, "Come on White Girl! Today is the first day of our RangeMan career. I'm really excited I could hardly sleep last night."

I smiled at Lula and said, "I just need a cup of coffee and then I'll be ready in a jiffy."

I poured myself a cup of coffee and added the requisite cream and sugar. I then carried said cup of coffee into my room and pulled on some comfortable looking gym clothes. When I emerged 10 minutes later with my hair up in a pony tail and my coffee finished, I felt like a new woman.

I rinsed my cup in the sink, pulled on a pair of trainers and looked at Lula. "You ready?" Lula swallowed apprehensively and nodded as she too pulled on her sneakers. We walked side by side to the stairwell, both looking longingly at the elevator doors.

We arrived at the gym at 5:58. We were two whole minutes early, but so were the guys. The gym was packed with people who stared at us as we entered. I felt like I was in a spotlight of some sort until Bobby came to our rescue and said, "Today is Lula and Bomber's first day. If you guys keep staring at them like you are, you'll scare them away. They were instrumental in finding Lester so we want them to stay."

The guys around the room turned their heads and went back to what they were doing. Several even packed up and headed to the locker room. I smiled and mouthed 'Thank You' to Bobby as Lula and I made our way to him and Tank.

"Good morning Ladies. I'm glad to see that you arrived on time. Bobby and I will work with you this morning on some basic fitness skills. You'll find that this will get easier over time so we'll need to increase the difficulty to ensure a good workout."

I had heard all of this before, but Lula hadn't. She looked like she was really taking this stuff seriously, so I let her pay attention for the both of us.

Bobby directed us over to a set of mats on the floor and showed us how to properly stretch before our workout. He said that it was essential to do a bit of warming up before any exercise or we could injure ourselves. I was stretching my hamstring and I could hear Lula breathing heavily beside me. She was muttering under her breath but I couldn't quite make out what she was saying. She looked a bit uncomfortable so I whispered, "Is everything OK Lula?"

She turned and looked at me as if she'd just noticed I was in the same room as her and she said, "I can't reach my toes. My stomach is getting in the way and I can't reach my toes."

Bobby heard this and said, "We can work on that if you want Lula. A bit of running every morning will help you reach over your stomach and touch your toes."

Lula grunted and said, "I'd rather lose the stomach so I didn't have to reach over it."

Bobby smiled and said, "That will happen as well if you keep up your fitness program. I won't lie to you. It isn't easy and there will be days where you won't want to come down here, but you will see results if you do."

Lula nodded and said, "I remember how good Steph looked the last time she worked here. I can work hard, but I think motivation was what was missing or I'd have done this sooner."

After Bobby considered us warm enough, he led us over to the treadmills. He programmed them so we were walking quickly. After about 2 minutes, I was breathing heavily as the elevation of the treadmill moved up and down. Lula and I both gave up trying to talk and just concentrated on getting through the remaining time. We stayed on the treadmill walking briskly for 20 minutes and both Lula and I were plastered with sweat when we were finished.

Bobby came over and congratulated us on our success. I smiled and Lula said, "Who would have thought that walking up and down hills would be so tiring?"

Tank took over from Bobby at this point. "We're going to spend the next 45 minutes working on some of the resistance machines. These are meant to slowly build up your muscle tone and improve your overall fitness. The more muscle your body has, the better your metabolism and injury recovery times.

"First we'll start with some of the machines and then we can work with the free weights. The first two machines are for your legs. This first one requires you to squeeze your knees together and lift some weights. The second requires you to push your knees apart to raise some weights. I want you to each sit at a machine and try to lift the weights 15 times each. After you hit 15, take a 30 second break and then do another 15 reps. I've put a relatively low weight in to start and we'll build up on that in the future."

I sat at the machine where I had to start with my knees together and push them apart. After I did 8 of these, I was wondering what weight Tank started with because my legs were hurting already. I continued pushing my legs apart, not letting the weights clang as Tank instructed and when I got to 14, I was really struggling. After a brief rest, I repeated my reps and my legs were feeling pretty weak.

I looked over and could see that Lula was counting out loud and she was also struggling. She was sweating, breathing heavily, and when she and I finally finished our last rep, we both sat back and breathed a sigh of relief.

Tank looked at us and said, "Switch machines and do another two sets of 15 reps"

Lula looked at him with her mouth open as she struggled to untangle herself from her machine. I on the other hand, verbalised my disdain. "Don't we get a moment to catch our breath?"

"No. You have to move from machine to machine quickly or your muscles will seize up thinking they're done for the day."

I rolled my eyes and stood so Lula could sit in my machine. I moved over to the other one and experienced the same thing. By the 7th or 8th repetition of the second set, my legs were jelly. After I forced out the last rep, I stood to get away from my machine for fear that Tank would make me do it again.

Fortunately for me he didn't make me do it again, but my legs did go out from under me because they were so weak from my efforts. I fell to my knees and felt like a right idiot. Tank smiled as he helped me up and said, "You'll both be happy that the next set of machines is for your arms."

I groaned a little and Lula followed Tank around the corner, holding on to anything so she didn't fall over. Tank explained how the machines work and we set to it. My machined worked my triceps and Lula's machine worked her biceps. After our two sets of 15 reps, we switched machines. After this, we went to another set of leg machines.

One replicated squats, but with weights. The other required you to sit and bend your legs at the knee to lift a weight. These weren't so hard on the legs as the first set of machines, but my legs still felt like jelly afterward.

Tank directed us to the free weight section. He handed us each a set of 2.5lb weights and showed us how to do several different exercises to tone and strengthen our arms, shoulders and backs. My favourite one was to lie flat on my back with my knees slightly bent. I then stretched my arms directly behind me holding the weights together at a point. I lifted the weight straight over my stomach keeping my abdominal muscles clenched, and once the weights were over my knees, I'd do a crunch. I did 2 sets of 20.

Bobby came back to show us how to cool down and stretch. After putting our muscles through their paces, it seemed to me at least, that the cool down exercises were the hardest of the lot. We had to do 2 30 second planks and then some push ups. We then repeated the planks and the same exercises we did at the warm up.

After 1.5 hours in the gym, I was completely drenched with sweat and exhausted. Lula was also sweating a lot, but instead of looking exhausted like I did, she was looking exhilarated.

Tank must have noticed this as well because he said, "You ladies have done a wonderful job today. Go get cleaned up, but try not to take a shower that's too hot. It will cause your muscles to stiffen. If you find you are getting stiff, do a bit of stretching and drink lots of water."

We both thanked him and headed up to our apartment to take a shower and get ready for the day. Lula looked at me and said, "That was hard, but I actually had fun. Who knew that exercise could be like that? I also didn't mind watching our instructors." Lula grinned and headed into her bedroom to take a shower.

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I hope you're still out there enjoying this series. More to come soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Things are about to get interesting for everyone. Enjoy.

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_Ranger's POV_

I woke up and my first thought was the exact same as my last thought the night before. I missed my Babe and I wished she was here with me. I didn't want to waste time away from my Babe so I rolled out of bed and dressed. It was still pretty early, so I went down to the hotel gym and stepped onto the treadmill.

Thirty minutes and 5 miles later, I was back in my room showering. I always have enjoyed running. I use that time to contemplate my life or work out a problem I was having. This morning, I used that time to think about what I would say when I confronted the General. I was furious with him and if he was anyone else, he would have disappeared by now without a trace.

I couldn't meek out my usual revenge so I would have to be content with removing him from his powerful position. If I could do that, he would no longer pose a threat to this country or the men and woman who risk their lives on a daily basis for this country.

When I asked the others to join me at 0900, I told them that I'd order breakfast. I looked at the menu and ended up calling room service and telling them that there would be 5 people for breakfast. They said that they would bring up enough food for 5 and plenty of coffee.

Lester was the first to arrive. He looked around my room as if he was looking for someone. I laughed and said, "I'm alone Lester. Who did you think you'd find skulking under my bed?"

"I was just seeing if I was the first person here. I didn't expect to be the first."

I smiled, knowing that he was looking for LeBlanc, but I never had a chance to tease him about it. There was a knock at the door and when I opened it, two young men wheeled in trolleys filled with food. They placed the food on the table and handed me the bill to sign. LeBlanc, Williams and Polanski arrived while the door was still ajar and we each grabbed a plate and served ourselves breakfast.

My room wasn't huge, but it did have a sofa and two chairs. I sat on the edge of the bed while Lester and Fiona sat on the sofa. The other two sat in the chairs while we ate mostly in silence. When everyone returned their plates to the trolley, we sat and faced each other.

I looked at each of them and said, "I just want to make sure that we're all on the same page before we head to the General's office this morning. The goal is to confront him about trying to trick me into coming back to work for him and for lying to each of you to get you to go along with that. Does everyone agree?"

All heads bobbed in agreement and I said, "Let's meet in the lobby at 10. You three can check out of the hotel. You can go back to your own homes after we meet with the General."

Everyone left my room so I tidied up the remaining breakfast dishes and wheeled both trolleys into the hall. I didn't have anything to wear other than RangeMan gear and a pair of black trousers, so I pulled on the trousers and a black button up shirt. I was trying to look respectable, but I wasn't sure I was pulling it off. In the past when I visited the General, I wore either my army uniform or a suit. Now, I felt a little underdressed, but this was the best I could come up with, so it would just have to do.

I went down to the lobby a few minutes early. I found Lester already down there, pacing back and forth across the open room. He saw me as I walked into the room and nodded at me, but continued his pacing.

"What's up with you Lester? Why do you seem so nervous?"

"I don't know. I have a funny feeling that things aren't going to go as planned today. I can't really pinpoint what bothers me exactly. I don't know if it's a person or one of the agents with us, but something doesn't seem right."

Now that I heard it out loud from Lester, I had to admit that I also had some misgivings about the whole situation. I normally listen to my instincts, but this time, I didn't even notice that they were there. I was too caught up in getting home to Babe that I neglected what was going on around me. It was too late to do anything about it now so I said, "Les, don't worry. Everything will be fine."

Les nodded but he didn't stop his pacing. I sat and watched Lester walk back and forth until all three agents joined us in the lobby. Lester was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the others join me. Fiona looked at me and asked, "What's with Santos?"

"I'm not sure. He says something feels off about today but he's not sure what."

Fiona watched as Lester turned away from them and said, "I'll go talk to him and see if he can give it a rest for a while. We should get going or we might miss the General's morning hours."

I watched as Fiona walked over to Lester. She put her hand on his shoulder and he stopped mid-stride. He looked at her and I saw her say something. Lester nodded and then looked in our direction after Fiona pointed our way. Lester nodded, followed her and we all piled into van that the valet brought forward.

When we arrived at the government building in downtown D.C. where General Matthews had his office, the three agents used their badges to get through security. Since Lester and I no longer worked for the General, we had to go through the typical guest security and get visitor passes.

Les kept looking over his shoulders looking to see if we were being followed through the building, but nobody ever appeared. Fiona directed us to the elevators that took us to the General's floor. We ascended in silence, and when we reached the correct floor, we followed the agents to the General's office.

Fiona turned to us and said, "Please wait here for a moment. I want to see what kind of mood the General is in before you go in."

Lester and I stood in the hallway and waited as LeBlanc, Williams and Polanski walked into the office. We waited about 5 minutes before Agent Polanski poked his head out and waved us in. The General stood when he saw me and walked around his desk to shake my hand.

"Captain Manoso, it's nice to see you again. Now that your man is safe and sound from the Colombians, I think you owe me a new contract."

I laughed and said, "I don't think so General. You know as well as I do that it was not the Colombians who kidnapped Santos."

The General smiled his smarmy smile and said, "I don't know what you're talking about. All of our intelligence indicates that Ramon Díaz was the culprit."

"Then your intelligence is as wrong. Ramon Díaz had nothing to do with Santos' abduction." I looked around the room and then said, "Isn't that true Agents?"

Fiona nodded but Williams and Polanski paled under my glare. The General looked up at me and then over at Fiona and grinned. He stood once again and puffed out his chest before saying, "I'm sorry to say Captain Manoso, but you and Miss LeBlanc are under arrest for treason. You plotted to oust me and now you will have to pay the price."

I barely had a chance for the General's words to register before the room was filled with men dressed in army uniforms. They cuffed me and Agent LeBlanc and then dragged us behind them. I could hear Lester yelling at the General. He was getting louder as we got further away, but once we were in the elevator, the sound of his voice was cut off.

I looked down at Fiona and she looked terrified. I leaned down and whispered, "Don't say a word to anyone. I will have my lawyers handle this. The General has no cause to arrest us, even if we were plotting to oust him as he says, that's not treason. I'm sure Lester is already on the phone to the lawyers. Just sit tight and keep quiet."

Fiona nodded and pursed her lips. She was silent for a moment and then said, "I can't believe Williams and Polanski, those treacherous bastards."

I nodded at that sentiment and then let the guards lead us to a van. I assumed they'd take us to Fort Meyer or some other Army facility, so I sat back and relaxed as best I could knowing that my lawyers and the rest of the guys would bend over backwards to get me and Fiona out of there.

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What nerve that nasty General has. What will happen next? Update to follow shortly.


	5. Chapter 5

Just taking a step back to move the entire story along, not just the suspenseful part in Washington. Enjoy.

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_Steph's POV_

After an hour and a half in the gym, Lula and I ran up to our apartment to shower. I went first and was struggling to make my hair behave when Lula emerged ready for her day before I was even dressed. I looked at her and said, "You look great Lula. I really like your short hair. I just wish my hair was a little less of a pain in the ass. I would be ready by now if it wasn't for my hair."

Lula looked at me and said, "Come here, I have an idea."

I walked over to Lula who took my hair brush from my hand and spent the next 5 minutes doing something I couldn't see to my hair. When she was done she said, "Do you have a hair tie somewhere handy?"

I handed her the one I was going to use to put my hair in a pony tail and she used it to tie my hair. She then handed me my brush and said, "Et Voila."

I went and looked in the mirror and Lula had done an elaborate plaited braid of some sort. I looked at the sides of my head and liked what I saw. I smiled at Lula and said, "Wow Lula, you'll have to teach me how to do that. You did it so quickly too."

Lula nodded and said, "Come on, get your skinny white ass dressed. We have some work to do."

I dressed in a lime green RangeMan t-shirt, black cargos and black boots. I didn't bother with makeup so I was out and ready to go in about 5 minutes. It was still only 8:30 and our next training session didn't start until 9, but Lula was so excited that we went down early.

"Come on Steph, we're ready and we can do some searches while we wait. I am looking forward to shooting a gun again. It was real fun last time and Tank said that he would show me several different guns so I could choose which one I wanted to carry."

I grimaced at the thought of carrying a gun, but if I got to try out several different ones, maybe there would be one that was a little less bad than the rest? Who knows, but I'll probably find out later when it's my turn with Tank. While Lula spends an hour with Tank, I get to spend an hour with Hector and Hal. I think Hal is there mostly for translation purposes, but he probably knows about security systems too. After an hour, Lula and I swap. I kind of hope Tank and Lula get caught up and lose track of the time. I'd much rather spend my day learning about security systems than firing a gun, no matter how much stress it relieved when we were waiting to hear about Lester.

I figure my reaction to shooting a gun last night was purely because I was so stressed and worried about Les. I figure that I'll feel different about a gun today. It won't be fun and I'll probably feel like a wreck when the lesson is over.

Since we were 30 minutes early for our appointments, we headed to our cubicles to see if any searched appeared in our box over night. We were in luck and there were two searches. I handed the top one to Lula and she took a seat in her cubicle and got started. I walked into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee after I set my search running and ran into a few of the guys who had down in Atlanta.

"Hey guys, glad to be back?"

They all greeted me with hugs and said that they were glad to be back. All of them were on the schedule for the day, so they grabbed their drinks or snacks and headed on their way. Lula came in and poured herself a coffee. She looked around for cream and sugar, but ended up settling for low-fat creamer and sugar substitute.

I watched as Lula took a drink and almost spit it out again. She looked down at the coffee, gave it a bit of a frown and then dumped it down the sink. I laughed as I watched her do that and said, "The key is to pick up those little creamers and sugar packets from diners and coffee shops and stash them in your desk."

Lula grimaced and said, "I'll remember that. In fact, we should go to one of them places this evening."

I thought about it for a moment and said, "Would you like to come over to my old apartment? I still haven't done any packing and I haven't even talked to my Grandmother to see if she'd like to stay at my place. Things with Lester kind of put my plans in a bit of a hold pattern over the weekend."

"Sure. We can do that after stopping for coffee creamer and sugars."

Tank showed up in the kitchen to collect Lula. We both locked our computers and Lula went with Tank to the gun range while I went to find Hector and Hal. I found the guys in Hector's office and they were both grinning like fools when I walked in.

"What's up guys? You look like those cats that ate the canary."

Hal laughed and said, "Hector was just reminding me about the time you stunned me and I reminded him of the time you thought he was one of the gangsters trying to kidnap you. We then started remembering all the things you did over the past few years and it started to get funny."

I glared at them and said, "It wasn't funny to live a lot of them. How about we concentrate on why I'm here. I'm supposed to learn about security system equipment."

Hal looked a little embarrassed but Hector was still grinning. He leaned over and whispered something to Hal, who in turn said something tot Hector in Spanish. The smile slipped off Hector's face and he turned to me and said "Sorry Steph, just joke."

I nodded and asked, "Where do we start?"

Hector handed me a catalogue and said, "You read." I looked up at Hal hoping for a bit more information. He nodded and said, "All of the camera and a majority of the electronic equipment that RangeMan uses for its security systems are included in this catalogue. Hector thinks that it is important for you to learn about the hardware before we teach you which item is best used in any specific location."

I looked at the catalogue and thought that it would take me days to read my way through it. I looked up at Hal and said, "I'm going back up to my cubicle to read through this thing. Who knew there was so much to learn?"

Hal looked confused for a moment and then he said, "Oh, I forgot to mention that you only need to read the pages that have red tabs. RangeMan only uses the top-of-the-line equipment and that catalogue contains everything. You only need to read about 15 pages."

I sighed with relief and sat down in the chair Hal indicated and started to read the catalogue. The cameras all had similar features. They were all high resolution, colour, fully encrypted and communicated via a wired or wireless network. Some cameras had wider angles than others. Some were battery operated, some had built-in motion sensors and others had infrared capabilities.

There were a lot of features for security cameras, many of which I had never heard of before outside of a science fiction film. The different types were beginning to get a bit overwhelming, so I looked around for a pen and a notepad of some sort. I didn't see anything so I asked Hal. He riffled through a drawer and pulled out a pen and a spiral notebook. I thanked him before he left me alone in the office with Hector who was busy working with a soldering iron at a workstation. I did my best to focus and started taking notes.

I figured it was easier to learn the various features and then search for a camera that met the required specs at the beginning, so I listed the different features available. If I listed a feature that was common to all cameras, I marked it with an asterisk. If a feature was only available in one or 2 models, I marked the model number.

After about 45 minutes, Hal came back to ask how I was getting along. I said, "I have a few questions. Would it be alright to ask them now?"

Hal nodded so I said, "What is the limiting factor for most of our customers?"

Hal thought for a moment and said, "Price is usually the most limiting factor. Customers want great security but many don't want to pay for it. Fortunately, RangeMan is very good at what we do so a lot of customers take that into account when we make recommendations."

"How do you know what to recommend?"

"We usually go through several stages with a potential client. First, the client comes here to RangeMan and meets with an account manager. Up until now, that has been Ranger, Tank or Lester. The account manager then asks a bunch of generic questions to try and get a feel for what type of security the client is after.

"The next step is a site visit. These site visits are sometimes done by the account manager, but those three guys are far too busy to visit every potential customer. These site visits fall to the more technical guys like me, Vince, Ram, Hector or any number of others. We go to the client site and do a walk through. We ask questions and get a basic idea of what we can offer.

"We then return to RangeMan and make three proposals. The first level is top of the line everything. The second proposal is more middle ground and the third proposal is basic run of the mill stuff. Most of the time we hope for the top but in reality, it tends to fall more in the middle category."

I nodded and thought for a moment and said, "Why do you bother making the top and bottom level proposals at all then, if nobody ever takes them?"

Hal smiled and said, "That's a good question. It's one I've often wondered about, but that's just how everyone was taught, so that's how we do it. Maybe you can make a better suggestion once you have done a few."

I doubted I would be able to change the way things were run at RangeMan straight away. I had doubts I'd be able to change things even after working here for a few years, but it was something to think about.

I jumped a bit when Hal's watch alarm went off. He smiled at me and said "Time for the gun range now Steph. Good luck. We'll meet up again tomorrow to go over some existing customer sites to see how you'd kit them out."

I blanched at the thought of being expected to know how to come up with a recommendation for a security system so soon, but Hal reassured me by saying, "We don't expect you to be perfect right away. We just need to show you what works best where. Enjoy the gun range."

I tore off and pocketed the papers from the notepad and waved goodbye to Hal and Hector. Hector looked up briefly from his desk, smiled and waved as I walked out the door.

* * *

Don't worry, more to come soon.


	6. Chapter 6

Still in Trenton...

* * *

_Steph's POV_

I walked down to the gun range with a bit of a heavy step. I wasn't really looking forward to this and there wasn't much that was going to get me excited to fire a gun. I ran into Lula on the way down and she was beaming. It was obvious that she had a grand old time shooting with Tank, but I wasn't so sure she'd enjoy her time with Hal and Hector as much. I smiled at her as she bounced past and headed to the gun range and Tank.

I walked in the gun range to find Tank standing beside a table filled with all sorts of guns. They ranged from a tiny little thing that looked like a cigarette lighter to a large automatic rifle of some sort. I looked at the table apprehensively. Tank must have seen my face fall because he laughed and said, "Don't worry Bomber, we're not expecting you to fire any of these guns today. I know you are not comfortable with guns so I wanted to start with something a little different.

"Today we will focus on the different types of guns that are out there and then if there's time, you'll try a few out."

I nodded and walked towards the table. I recognised a few of the guns on the table, but none of them looked particularly inviting. I picked up a few of the hand guns at Tank's request and told him how they felt. After about 15 minutes, Tank asked me to pick up the gun that felt the best in my hands. I looked at the guns and after a few more minutes of holding them, I picked up a Glock 19 and said, "I think this is the best one."

Based on the look on his face, I think Tank was a little bit surprised. He smiled and said, "Ranger will be happy. He was expecting you to stick to your Smith and Wesson."

I looked confused and said, "What's the difference? They're both just guns."

Tank laughed at my comment and said, "The difference is that the gun in your cookie jar gun holds 6 rounds and reloading is time consuming because you have to put each bullet into its own slot in the barrel of the gun. The little gun in your hand is lighter and it holds 15 rounds and one in the chamber before you have to reload. If you carry a spare clip it takes seconds to reload."

"OK, I get it, it's fancier and a little more modern," I said sarcastically.

"I also think it's prettier, but that's just me. I like guns." Tank grinned as he motioned me to move to his end of the table. He held out his hand and I gave him my gun. We spent the next twenty minutes going over all the parts of the gun. Tank showed me how to take it apart and put it back together. I was just loading an empty clip when I dropped the gun and reached out to the wall to catch myself before I fell down.

Tank rushed over to help me and asked what was wrong. I looked up at him and said, "I'm not sure. My spidey sense just went berserk. Something's wrong, I'm just not sure what or where."

Tank and the rest of the Merry Men have had enough experience with my spidey sense to take me seriously. Tank pulled out his phone and called up to the control room. Nobody had anything to report so Tank hung up and said, "There's nothing from the control room. Do you think it's RangeMan related?"

I shrugged and said, "Do you mind if we finish a little early? I will stay longer tomorrow to make up the time. I want to go call my family."

Tank nodded and stayed to clean up the guns and put them back in the gun safe as I rushed up to my apartment to call home.

"Mom, it's Stephanie. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I think so. Your father and your grandmother are both out right now. Why? Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure. I just have this bad feeling that something horrible has happened but I don't know what. If you hear something, please let me know."

I got off the phone and called Connie next. She wasn't aware of any tragedies, so I called the next person on my list. Valerie confirmed that she and the girls were fine. Albert was at work and she had spoken to him just a few minutes ago. I had one more phone call to make so I wished Val a good day and called Mary Lou. All was well at her house, but the feeling of dread wouldn't leave me.

I looked at my phone and thought about calling Ranger. I knew he was probably in the middle of a meeting with the General but I just wanted to hear his voice, even if it was just his message on his voicemail. I dialled his number but decided not to leave a message. Ranger would see he missed a call from me can call me back later when he had the time.

I pocketed my phone and headed back down to my desk. I looked at the clock and saw that it was just about 11. Lula would be up from her session soon and I was looking forward to hearing about her day so far. To kill a bit of time, I unlocked my computer and looked to see if my search was finished. When I saw that it was, I printed the report and put it in my outbox. I'd drop it off at Rodriguez's desk when we went for lunch. There was a new search from Vince so I started that while I waited for Lula to come back.

I heard Lula long before I saw her. She was having an animated conversation with Hal about the different security cameras. She seemed to know the model numbers and their features quite well. I was a little jealous that she was able to learn so much while I struggled to remember a few features. I was also proud that she was doing so well, so I suppose that won out over the jealousy.

Lula walked towards me and waved at Hal as they separated. "Wow, there sure are a lot of things to learn here. I never realised it was so complex. I just always thought they went after dangerous skips. I completely misjudged Ranger and all his Merry Men. I have a lot of new respect for the guys.

I smiled because I knew exactly how she felt. I always had similar thoughts, even after I worked here for a while. Now I know better, but if you only see Ranger or any of his men out and around town, you don't see the security side of things.

I looked up at Lula and said, "What would you say to taking a long lunch break today and helping me with my apartment now instead of later?"

Lula agreed so we headed up to our apartment to change our t-shirts. We were going out in public and Ranger didn't want the coloured t-shirts to be seen outside the office just. We each grabbed our bags and headed down to control room to let someone know where we were going.

We ran into Tank while we were down there and he asked us to join him in his office. We followed him and he handed each of us a small box. I opened mine and found an id badge, a key fob and a set of keys. I looked up at Tank and he said, "The keys are to your company vehicles down in the garage. The key is to get in and out and the id badge is needed when you start visiting customers. For now you can keep it in a drawer at your desk."

I looked down at the car keys and said, "I still have my car here. Is it a problem to leave it here?"

Tank shook his head and asked us where we were going. I said, "Because of the whole Lester situation, I didn't get a chance to clean out my apartment over the weekend. Lula and I are going to get some lunch and head over there now to try to get as much done as possible."

"Let me know if you need some help moving anything. We can send another vehicle and a couple of bodies to help carry things if you need. There are also some boxes and packing tape on the 6th floor storage room. Help yourself."

I smiled and said, "I might take you up on that, but it won't be today. I think we'll need today to just go through my things and decide what I want to keep and what I want to donate to charity. I will probably leave all the furniture as is. My grandmother won't have any of her own and if she decides to take my apartment for the next 6 months, she'll need everything there. After 6 months, I don't know. I can worry about it then."

We waved goodbye to Tank and grabbed a handful of boxes and tape. Next we stopped by the staff room on the way out to stock up on lunchables. We each grabbed a sandwich, some fruit and a couple bottles of water. We would have a nice picnic in my living room and we'd stick to our diet because we were eating Ella's sandwiches.

Lula and I hurried down to the garage to find out what we could drive. We both had a black SUV just like the rest of the Merry Men except ours were a little smaller and a lot more streamlined looking. They were nice cars and both of us wanted to drive. I laughed when we both climbed into separate vehicles. I rolled down my passenger side window and Lula rolled down her own window. I said, "Why don't we both drive because if I have stuff to bring back, it might not fit in just one car."

* * *

Don't worry, we head back to Washington next... Coming soon.


	7. Chapter 7

Enjoy.

* * *

_Lester's POV_

Crap! I can't believe the General did this. He has arrested Fiona and Ranger for treason of all things. The General refused to explain what they did to warrant such treatment, but Polanski said something about sharing classified information about Díaz with individuals who are not cleared to know those details.

After they dragged Ranger away, the General ordered me out of his office and his building. I refused to go until I got a better explanation about what was going on, but when the guards showed up to drag me away, I realised I was never going to get my answer.

The last thing Ranger said before he was dragged away was to contact his lawyer. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts. I wasn't surprised that I didn't have the direct number for our lawyer, so I called Tank. I got Tank's voice mail and didn't bother with a message. Next, I called the control room and got Woody.

I hurriedly greeted Woody and told him that I needed the number to our criminal lawyer. He asked me what I needed it for but I snapped and said, "Just get it."

Woody disappeared for few minutes and came back with the number. I wrote it down, thanked him and then called the lawyer. I honestly don't know how Ranger gets so lucky sometimes. When I finally managed to talk to the RangeMan lawyer, it was to find out that he was already in D.C. I gave him a very brief explanation of the circumstances and he arranged to meet me at the hotel. He didn't want to discuss any details over the phone.

My next task was to contact Tank and explain the situation, but I didn't see the point in briefing Tank before I had anything to tell him. Hopefully meeting with the lawyer would give me some good news to share along with the bad.

Ranger had handed me the keys to the van as he was dragged away so at least I had transportation. I headed back to the hotel and returned to pacing the lobby as I waited for the RangeMan lawyer, a guy names George Creswell.

Creswell walked in and recognised me immediately. We had only met a few times, but I guess the black gave me away. We shook hands and I told him that Ranger was arrested for treason along with an Agent that we were working with.

"Lester, please start from the beginning. I have a feeling that there's a lot more to this story."

I looked around the lobby and said, "Perhaps we should take this upstairs. We can use Ranger's suite."

When we were both sitting, I started the story with Ranger's last mission and his discovery that Ramon Díaz was dying. I then went on to tell him about General Matthews' attempts to get Ranger to reconsider his retirement and culminated the story with my own kidnapping and Ranger and Fiona's subsequent arrest.

"That's an incredible story. Do you know what exactly Ranger was supposed to have done to justify the treason charge?"

"The General said that Ranger shared classified military intelligence with people who were not cleared to know said information. I figure he's talking about sharing the fact that Díaz is probably dead but I'm not sure."

"OK. I will contact the Department of Justice and find out what's going on. I need to find out what the formal charges are and then I'll contact you. I will come back here after I've finished my enquiries and take a room so we can work together until we figure out what's going on."

"I will ask the front desk to make up the suite Ranger was using for a new guest. RangeMan has already paid for it for Ranger, so there's no point letting it go to waste."

I shook hands with George and told him I'd see him later. As soon as George was out of sight, I went to arrange for Ranger's belongings to be moved to my room and for the room to be cleaned for a new Guest. I explained the situation without disclosing the fact that Ranger had been arrested. I just said he was called away urgently and was unable to collect his belongings. I would hold on to Ranger's things and get them back to him when I saw him next.

The room would be sorted within the hour so I headed to my own room to call Tank and fill him in as best I could. It was just after 1PM so I ordered a sandwich from room service and called tank while I waited. He answered with the typical RangeMan 'Yo.'

"Hey Tank."

"Les, how did it go with the General today?"

"Not so great. He's still in office and he managed to come up with some sort of evidence to arrest Fiona and Ranger for treason."

"That bastard!"

"I know. George Creswell is already looking into it. He was already in D.C. and we lucked out. He's gone to the Department of Justice to try and figure out what's going on."

"Does he know the full story?"

"I filled him in on everything I know. If he needs more information, I may call you when he gets back. For now, there's not much we can do other than wait."

"No Les, that's not all we can do. We can plan our revenge on Matthews, Williams and Polanski. Those two agents are little shits. I can't believe they backstabbed Ranger of all people. They must know who he is and what he's capable of doing to them."

"If they don't now, they will surely find out. Ranger isn't going to let this one go very easily."

Tank was silent for a moment and then he gasped. "Les, what time was it when Ranger was arrested?"

I thought back and looked at my watch. "I guess around 10:30 or there about. Why?"

"I was with Stephanie in the gun range. I was showing her how to disassemble and reassemble a Glock 19 when she sort of fainted. When she recovered she told me that her spidey sense had just gone off and that something had happened. She went off to contact her family and when she returned without any bad news, she seemed a little better."

"Wow. She sensed that something bad happened to Ranger all the way from Trenton. That's freaking awesome."

Tank grunted and said, "It won't be awesome to tell her when she gets back. Promise me you'll call as soon as you hear from George. I don't want to tell bomber anything until we have some good news to tell her."

I laughed and said, "That was the same logic I used to put off calling you. I could have called you as soon as it happened, but I chose to wait to talk to George first."

"You made the right call. It's not like I was or am in a position to do anything. Just keep me in the loop so I know what to tell the guys if need be."

"No problem. I'll call as soon as George fills me in when he returns. It probably won't be until around 5PM though, so take your phone with you to the gym if you're going to be involved in Beautiful and Lula's training. Also, tell them that I'm sorry to not be there. I was supposed to work on some stuff with them but that will just have to wait until I get back."

"Don't worry about it Les. There's plenty enough for them to learn without you here. You'll really be pleased with how well they're getting on already. You might not even recognise them by the time you get back, especially if you're down there a while."

"I'm staying for as long as it takes. I'll take an apartment if it looks like things are going to take a while. I owe it to both Ranger and Fiona to fight to get them released. Neither of them would be in this mess if they didn't come and rescue me."

"You're wrong Les. This is all on the General. I wouldn't be surprised if he offers to drop the charges if Ranger signs back with him. He's a devious man and I hope George is able to call Matthew's bluff."

I agreed, but for some reason, I wasn't holding out much hope of that. General Matthews was a very powerful man in this city and it would take a lot to get him out of power. It didn't matter, one way or another, we'd get Ranger and Fiona released, even if that meant the General has to stay in power for a little while longer.

* * *

We're staying in Washington for the next chapter as well... what will happen next?


	8. Chapter 8

Oh my.. chapter 8 already.. Enjoy.

* * *

_Ranger's POV_

I have no idea where they've taken us. I thought they'd take us to an Army base but it appears that we're being kept in a warehouse of some sort. My feet are attached to a shackle on the floor and my arms are shacked above my head and I'm hanging from the ceiling. If I am left in this position for too long, my shoulders will dislocate and I will pass out from the pain.

I look to the right and I see that Fiona is tied up in a similar position. The difference is that she can touch the floor with the tips of her feet. She's also wearing a hood over her head. I am pretty sure that she is conscious so I try to get her attention.

"Fiona, can you hear me?"

"Is that you Ranger? Where are we?"

"Yeah, it's me. I'm not sure where we are, but it doesn't look like any military prison I've ever seen. I have a bad feeling that this is not all above board. I don't think we've really been charged with treason. I wouldn't be surprised if this is another rouse by the General."

"How can he get away with something like this? Surely it's against the law to arrest and torture people like this?"

"I know what you mean. Lester is working on it. I'm sure my lawyer is already talking to the DOJ to find out what's going on. When he finds out that there is no official record of our arrest or any formal charges, he will confront the General. With Lester as a witness, he'll be able to charge the General with abduction and the breaking of several others laws I'm sure."

"What does that mean for us in the meantime? What if they can't find us or what if they torture us?"

"I don't' know Fiona. We need to stay calm and hope that somebody finds us soon."

I'm so glad that I didn't let my Babe come with me on this trip. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if she was involved in this mess as well. I'm glad that she's safe in Trenton and living at RangeMan. She'll be safe from any potential bad guys and she's probably working hard to get up to speed at RangeMan right now.

Thoughts of my Babe have got me through a lot over the years. Thoughts of getting home to her and thoughts of spending the rest of my life with her were always far off dreams. Now, it was a possibility and I was struggling to follow my own advice to keep calm. I am angry. I am very angry and I just need somebody to come back so I can direct that anger towards someone or something.

I must have drifted off to sleep at some point because a hissing Fiona woke me up. "Ranger, someone's coming."

I looked up and saw a car enter the warehouse. Two men got out and walked towards Fiona. They lowered her to the ground and dragged her out of sight. I didn't see where they took her but she returned a few minutes later. The men tied her back up but they didn't string her up this time.

Next, the two men walked towards me and lowered me to the ground. I watched as the men unshackled me but kept the cuffs on. They dragged me to another room and allowed me to use the toilet while standing beside me. When I was finished, they dragged me back to my original location and shackled both my arms and my legs to the bar on the floor. I didn't say anything to these men but I was very relieved when they didn't string me up.

The two men walked away from us and then returned with two cots. They set them up and then positioned them so we could each lie down without the shackles being too taut. Fiona looked at the man who shoved her onto her cot and said, "Where the hell are we? If we're truly being charged with treason why aren't we at a military police station?"

The man looked at Fiona like he didn't understand the question. "Look Lady, I am only paid to get you a bed, some food and make sure you get to use the toilet ever few hours. I don't know anything about the military police or no treason."

Fiona turned and looked at me with a look of confusion that I must have shared. I looked at the man closest to me and asked, "Who do you work for? Do you have any idea who we are or why we're here?"

The man shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter who I work for. It doesn't matter who you are or why you're here. There's a lot of money in this for me and I'm going to do what I'm told and you're going to shut up or you won't get any food or water for the next few days."

It was now clear to me that Fiona and I were not actually arrested. When George contacts the department of justice to enquire about the charges supposedly brought against us, he'll come up empty. He'll tell Lester and Lester will tell Tank, who will turn over every stone in D.C. to find us. My Babe will use her _Spidey Sense_ and maybe Lula will use her _Fishy Factor_.

The two men departed, leaving two large bottles of water for us as well as some sandwiches and a couple of buckets for emergencies. They said they'd be back in the morning and left us alone. Fiona was the first to say something.

"I memorised their license plate in case that comes in handy later."

"Good idea. I never thought of that. Do you have any idea where we are? Can you see anything out of the high windows? Also, do you have anything we could use to pick these locks?"

Fiona checked her pockets and shook her head. She then looked and squinted out ever window she could see. "I can't tell where we are and I don't have any hair pins or lock picks on me."

I wrinkled my nose and thought. Was there anything visible that could help us get out of our shackles? I couldn't see anything so I considered using the cot and trying to catch the chain between the concrete on the floor and the cot's metal frame. I positioned a piece of the chain for my leg and lifted the edge of my cot and then slammed it down. As expected, it had no effect. The metal on the chain was stronger than that on the cot's frame.

Next, I lay down on the cot and stared that the ceiling, wracking my brain trying to come up with some way to get out of here. Eventually, the silence got to me and I asked Fiona a question. "How long have you worked for the General?"

Fiona turned and faced me before saying, "Three years. He recruited me before I was even officially discharged from the Army."

"There aren't many women that work for the General. I'm surprised we haven't crossed paths earlier."

"We almost did. I was assigned to a mission that you were on but I had a family emergency and pulled out at the last minute. It turns out that only you and Tank returned, so maybe it was a good thing."

I sighed. That was a bad mission. "You're right. It was definitely a good thing that you missed it. The only reason Tank and I survived was because our truck broke down and we were miles behind the rest of our team. They were ambushed while we were still fighting with our truck 12 miles away. By the time we caught up, the entire team was dead and the attackers were long gone.

"Tank and loaded up our fallen comrades and aborted the mission. We were almost court marshalled when we returned but the General changed his mind after listening to our full story. He eventually agreed that there was nothing we could have done on our own and another team was sent in a few weeks later to carry out the mission we originally were sent to perform. They were successful, but it turned out to be a suicide mission. None of them returned."

Fiona groaned and said, "I was briefed on that mission. I never really understood why a single school teacher could be so important to the U.S. government or the Taliban."

I laughed. "He wasn't a school teacher Fiona. He was a Russian nuclear scientist who defected to Afghanistan during its war with Russia. He had a change in heart after he found out how the Taliban treated him and wanted to move to America. We'd have been better off putting a bullet in his head. I can imagine how much money the U.S. government is giving him to keep him happy. The price of a bullet would have been better for the tax payers."

Fiona nodded and said, "Harsh but true. How long do you think they'll keep us here?"

"I'm not really sure. It depends on how affiliated this warehouse is with the General or a member of his staff or team. If there is any connection, my guys and gals will find it and us as a result. My lawyer will be going the legal route with all guns blazing. Lester will be at his side. If RangeMan can't find us then George Creswell and Lester Santos will."

Fiona lay back on her cot and said, "That's good news. I might actually be able to get some sleep now. Good night Ranger."

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I'm making this stuff up so if there are any errors in my assumptions, I apologise. :)


	9. Chapter 9

Meanwhile, back in Trenton...

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_Steph's POV_

We walked into my apartment and dropped the stack of boxes and tape on the kitchen table. I looked around and said, "It's a bit early to eat so why don't we start with my closet. We should be able to make 3 piles in short order."

"Why three piles? I thought you said you'd pack what you wanted to take with you and donate the rest?"

"I will, but I'll let Mary Lou, Connie and Val have first dibs. I'll put things I know nobody will want into the donate pile. Anything that might be wanted by one of the girls will go in another pile. Anything that ends up on my bed will go with me to RangeMan."

With the system clearly understood, I went into the closet and started pulling things out. If I wasn't sure where to put an item, I'd ask Lula, but most of the things I was looking at tended to be put in the donate or pre-donate piles. I held up a particularly slutty outfit to show Lula and she said I should keep it. I looked at it and couldn't imagine a situation where I'd actually want to wear it. The only reason I had it was because it was a distraction outfit that didn't burn up on one of my apartment fires. I bet it's coated in some sort of toxic flame retardant chemicals so I tossed it on top of the donate pile.

"What are you getting rid of that for? It's a great dress for clubbing and picking up guys. Maybe I should just hold onto it and hope my new diet and exercise routine does some good."

"Knock yourself out Lula. Help yourself to anything in the non-keep piles."

Lula smiled and started to riffle through the piles. I watched as she pulled out a few things, but in general, she left most of it there. "I think most of this is more suited to my previous profession. Now that I'm a RangeMan, I can't be going around in those fancy and sexy outfits. I have to be respectable."

"Then why are you keeping that one dress?"

"I want to keep one or two things, and if I can ever wear that dress out clubbing, I'll know my donut sacrifice was worth it."

I laughed and said, "So it's some sort of measurement?"

"Yup, that's exactly it. I will keep it and if I ever fit into your skinny ass dress, I'll be a new woman. There just won't be as much to love."

"No matter what size, people will love you because you are you Lula. You're one of the strongest people I know. You should be proud of where you are today and what you've accomplished."

"Thanks Steph. You do realise that it's all because of you. If you hadn't been pushy and nosy and force me to tell you all them things back when I was working my corner, I'd not be here today."

I then did something that was pretty foreign to me when it came to women, even family. I walked over to Lula and wrapped my arms around her and gave her a hug.

"I'm so lucky that I did talk to you on that day. I gained a great friend."

"Ah man, now I'm all teary. We should probably have some lunch soon if we're going to get this all done today. You still have ½ your closet left and you haven't even started with your shoes."

I nodded in agreement and then looked at my watch. It was 12:15 so a lunch break was probably a good idea. We went out to the kitchen to get the food we brought with us from RangeMan. Lula looked at her sandwich with a sigh and said, "If all I eat for lunch is this sandwich, my stomach is going to rebel. This here diet is hard on a woman of my size."

"I know, but Bobby did say that you'd get used to it after a little while. You just have to be strong, and don't forget that I'm in this with you. We can help each other."

We each had a sandwich, an apple, a banana and two bottles of water. It didn't look like a lot of food, but both Lula and I were looking at it like we hadn't seen food for days. We were both used to a more substantial midday meal.

We sat on my sofa and Lula told me all about her morning when we were apart. Tank was really happy with her progress and he even let her shoot a huge gun of some sort. She wasn't sure what kind but apparently it packed a wallop of a kick. She was sure she'd have a bruise on her shoulder later as a result.

Lula and I then started discussing some of the security equipment we looked at that day. We discussed what we'd put in my old apartment if I ever returned. We turned it into a game of sorts. After we finished joking about my apartment, I ended the competition by saying, "No matter how much surveillance is added, there is still the problem of the door. Maybe I should just find a new place in 6 months.

Lula nodded and said, "That's my plan. Let's go tackle the rest of your stuff. We have to be back at RangeMan in a few hours for self-defence training."

We returned to my bedroom and finished sorting the clothes in my closet. I didn't have much work to do with my dresser because the clothes in there were mostly underwear. I knew I'd keep most of it so I had Lula put it into a suitcase. While she was doing that, I called Connie, Val and Mary Lou and arranged for them to come over tomorrow evening to look through my cast offs.

The only thing left to tackle where my shoes. Here, Lula and I put shoes that I wanted to keep in boxes and then left the rest in the closet. I'd clean them up and take them to the donation box after the girls had a chance to go through them.

Next, we bagged all the clothes for donation and packed those I wanted to keep in boxes or my empty suitcases. In the end, I had 2 large suitcases filled with clothes and lingerie. A smaller suitcase was filled with some clothes and shoes, and there were 3 medium sized boxes filled with shoes. One final box was filled with stuff from my bathroom.

Lula and I lugged the suitcases and boxes down to her car and then we lugged the bags to be donated down to my car. We were exhausted afterwards because we had to take several trips. We decided that the best plan was for me to stop and donate the clothes on my way back to Rangeman and Lula would ask some guys to help her get my stuff up to our apartment. Hopefully, by the time I return to RangeMan, all I'd have to do is unpack a few boxes of clothes.

I waved goodbye to Lula and headed downtown to the charity shop. I stopped to talk to the clerk because we had gone to high school together and it was nice to catch up. I left my big bag with her and she thanked me as I walked out of the shop.

I was just about to pull into traffic when a wave of some sort passed over me and my spidey sense went berserk again. I put the car back into park and dumped the contents of my handbag onto the passenger side seat looking for my phone. I dialled Tank, drumming my fingers on the dash, waiting for him to answer.

* * *

Oh no, now why were her spidey senses going berserk?


	10. Chapter 10

I hope you're still interested. Now we're back in Washington. Enjoy.

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_Lester's POV_

I just got a call from George. He's on his way back to the hotel and he also mentioned that he thought he was being followed. I paced around my room for a few minutes and then went down to the lobby. I wanted to see if anyone followed George into the hotel. I resume my pacing position and walk back and forth across the lobby until I saw George walk in looking over his shoulder. He sees me and motions for me to walk quickly towards the elevators. I look behind us as we walk and see three very large men walk into the hotel lobby and look around.

George and I slip around the corner and press the button for the elevator without being seen. We climb into the car and go to the 13th floor and walk down one flight, just in case somebody saw us get on the elevator and took note of our destination floor.

Once we are safely in the suite, George puts his briefcase down, takes off his jacket and pulls a bottle of water out of the mini bar. He then looks at me, takes a deep breath and says, "I have no idea where Ranger and Miss LeBlanc are or where they were taken.

"There is no record of their arrest. There are no formal charges and they were not taken anywhere associated with the military or any federal agency. The only thing I can think of is that General Matthews pretended to arrest them because he was paranoid that they would cause trouble for him."

"What is the General thinking? He must have known that I'd look into this. He's obviously not thinking clearly, this is even more proof."

"I agree. I'm pretty sure I was followed to the hotel, so he knows somebody is searching for them. I don't know what kind or resources the General has at his disposal, but considering how classified some of the missions are that he coordinates, I'd assume he has plenty of options."

I am thinking about our options and have no idea where to go from here. I can get Tank to run a bunch of searches on the General and his staff, but we don't have any way to know which operatives he has working for him. He may even still have some military resources that we would be clueless about. I look at George, who is also looking a bit dejected.

We make eye contact and he said, "I suggest that you contact Tank and get him working on this. You might also luck out tracking Ranger's phone. I'm sure it's turned off by now, but it would have transmitted for a time after they were first taken."

I nodded and said, "I'll go back to my room now and contact Tank. I'll see if he can come up with something. You might as well rest up a little, maybe get some lunch on room service. We need some more information before we can proceed. I'll come back in 2 hours and we can have a conference call with the core team and a few others to decide what to do next."

I shook George's hand and quickly walked across the hall to my room, looking to see if anyone who didn't belong was hovering in the halls. When I was satisfied that nobody was there, I went into my room and called Tank.

"What's your news Les?"

"George says that there's no record of an arrest warrant or any formal charges against Ranger or Fiona. I think the General has done something with them to get them out of the way. We should run some searches to find out if the General or his department have any properties that could be used as a makeshift prison.

"See if Silvio or Hector can locate some surveillance from around the building where they were taken. Maybe there are some local stores or street CCTV cameras available. We're running completely blind and we need a lead.

"We should also try and track Williams and Polanski. Maybe they can give us some information. Lastly, George suggested that we trace Ranger's phone. He figures it will be powered off, but we should still be able to track it's GPS up until it was turned off."

I could hear Tank furiously writing down my suggestions, for which I was glad. I'm not sure I could repeat them if Tank asked me. My brain seems to be flying a mile a minute. I'm worried about Ranger and Fiona. I'm furious with the General, but most of all, I'm exhausted. Both physically and emotionally exhausted.

After a few seconds of silence Tank said, "I just paged Hector. I'll have him run Ranger's phone as soon as he gets here. I'm also sending a few of the guys down to you so you have backup if you need it. Do you have any preferences on who I send?"

"I'd like a sniper, a security expert, and two guys with a lot of hand to hand combat skills. How about Ram, Hal, Woody and Vince."

"OK. None of them are on shift but they're all in the building. I put the plane on standby as soon as you called last time. The guys will be on their way momentarily. I just paged them and they'll be there soon. I will call you back as soon as Hector arrives."

We hung up and I took a bottle of water from the mini bar. I looked at some of the other small bottles in the fridge, but decided a clear head was best in the current situation, no matter how much I wanted something a little stronger. I drank from the water bottle and flipped through the channels on the TV as I waited for Tank to call back. Luckily it didn't take too long.

"Hey Les. Hector just arrived. I'll put you on speaker phone."

I listened as Tank explained that we needed to find out where Ranger's phone is or was before it was turned off last. I wasn't expecting anything useful to come of this because anyone with a brain would know to take the battery out of the phone as soon as they kidnapped their target. If they did not, the phone could be traced, just like we were hoping we could do now. I sat down on the bed and listened to the guys talk in Trenton and sort of zoned out.

Hector was silent for a moment and I could hear him typing on his computer. He was silent for a few moments and then he said that Ranger's phone is currently powered on but the GPS signal isn't working for some reason. He thinks he can triangulate a general location for the phone but he needs an active call."

I said, "I'll call from my phone. I have a pretty distinctive ring tone on Ranger's phone, so he'll know it's me calling. If he can't get to the phone at least he'll know we're on our way. I'll call you guys back in a few."

I hung up on Tank and dialled Ranger's phone. I let it ring and after 6 rings, I got his voice mail. I didn't bother leaving a message and dialled the phone again. I wanted to give Hector plenty to work with. After I hung up the second time, I tried to call Tank again, but I got his voicemail.

* * *

Hmm... why is Tank's phone busy? Why is Ranger's phone active? More to come.

Also, I really enjoy reading your reviews and encouragement. Keep them coming!


	11. Chapter 11

This one's short and sweet. It's also the end of this story.

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_Ranger's POV_

After Fiona and I exhausted our ideas for escape, we both decided that some sleep might be a good idea. I just woke up and based on the position of the sun, it looked like it was somewhere around noon. I figure I slept so late because Fiona and I spent most of the night trying to figure out where we were and why we were there.

We discussed the fact that the General said we were under arrest, but we were never booked or formally charged. We are not in a military holding facility, this looks more like an abandoned or seldom used warehouse.

Around 4AM, we gave up and tried to get some sleep. I can see that Fiona is still sleeping and there is nowhere for me to go, so I decide to roll over and try to go back to sleep or at least stay quiet so I don't wake Fiona. I need her to be fully functioning if we get a chance to escape at some point in the future.

I looked around the warehouse and the only thing other than the 2 cots, Fiona and me is the van that was used to transport us to this location. For some reason, they left it here and that indicates to me that there may be some evidence in or about that van. Perhaps it's registered to the General or one of his men. If only I could figure out how to get out of my bindings. They're beginning to really hurt.

I slowly sat up and put my feet on the floor to take the pressure off the shackles around my feet. I stood and stretched and made sure my muscled didn't cramp up from my stationary position over the past day. I lean down to sit on the edge of my bed and I heard a noise.

The noise alerted Fiona and she popped her head up and looked around the warehouse. She then turned to me and says, "I swear I hear music coming from somewhere."

I looked towards the sound. It was coming from the van and I started laughing hysterically. "They couldn't be that stupid? Could they?"

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The next installment of the RangeWoman series will follow shortly.


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